Carbon fibres and natural graphite as negative electrodes for lithium ion-type batteries

Carbon fibres (CFs), from different origins, and natural graphite are used as host lattices for lithium electrochemical intercalation and de-intercalation in organic liquid and solid polymer electrolytes, respectively. In both systems, irreversible behaviour occurred during the first cycle of which the origin is tentatively discussed. The reversible capacity of the mesophase CFs-based electrodes, which is related to the total relative amount of lithium exchanged with the electrolyte during the charge/discharge operations, is found to increase with their crystallinity. Some thermodynamic data associated with the formation of the stage-1 graphite-lithium compound in polymer electrolyte-based cells are determined.